Review: TCL 4K HDR Roku TV New 2017 P-Series

Luke Bouma

8 months ago

This week I have been testing two TCL Roku 2017 TVs—both the 55″ 4K HDRRoku TV and the 43″ 4K HDR Roku TV. (Disclaimer: TCL sent us a review unit of the 55″ 4K HDR Roku TV and I liked it so much I went out and purchased the 43″ 4K HDR Roku TV for our bedroom.)

So let’s take a look at what I found out.

What Is New

If you have a 2016 TCL Roku TV P-Series, you will find the 2017 version is a totally different TV from the ground up. The connectors are on the other side; the stands are taller, and the overall layout of the TV is new. TCL seems to have started from scratch with this new line of Roku TVs for 2017.

The other big improvement is the addition of 4K HDR to the TCL P-Series TVs. 4K HDR is the newest 4K standard that puts more colors on the screen and deeper blacks that give a noticeably better image.

First Impressions

The 2017 P-Series Roku TVs are fast and will give you a smooth streaming experience. When using an antenna the More Ways to Watch feature for Roku TVs was a great addition. This feature is an opt-in system that will let cord cutters watching TV with their antenna find new ways to watch a show. Now Roku will automatically search over 300 Roku channels to see if that movie or TV show is available, which will allow you to restart the movie or even find the next episode of a show you are watching.

We plugged in a USB thumb stick to test out the 90 minutes of pause, rewind, and fast-forward of live TV and found it to work smoothly with the 2017 P-Series. The ability to get an instant replay as you watch live sports is a great feature.

I did find that the 43″ TCL Roku TV was perfect as an all in one TV. The only cable you have is a power cord making it easy to hide the mess of having streaming players plugged into a TV. I also found it makes a great bedroom TV for one reason the sleep timer. Roku TVs come with a sleep timer that stops the stream of anything you are watching when it turns off the TV. That means users with a data cap will be able to save GB of data every night they would have used up as they slept.

One Thing To Be Aware Of

The thing to be aware of is not a downside as long as you are aware of it. The 2017 P-Series offers both a line of sight remote, similar to what you find with the Roku Premiere and a point anywhere remote, similar to what you would get with a Roku Ultra. You just need to make sure you look at the box or online listing to know what remote you will get.

I know some of our readers really love the point anywhere remote and for others, it does not matter.

The Bottom Line

TCL once again has built a solid TV at a great price with features other TVs charge a lot more for. Rather you want a TV for your bedroom or for your living room you will find that the 2017 TCL Roku TV line is perfect for your needs.

What if You Want Something More?

If you want a Roku TV but want something a little more beautiful or with a better image check out TCL’s new C-Series Roku TVs. They feature a super thin TV with a metallic trim that gives the TCL a high end modern look. You will also find that the C-Series has a front facing sound bar for great sound coming from the TV. With the C-Series you will get Pairs 4K Ultra HD picture clarity with the contrast, color, and detail of Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) for the most amazing picture quality.

The TCL 2017 P-Series TVs are TVs everyone should consider, especially if you are looking for a TV that won’t break the bank.